Once Works Well was pure technology. Now it seeks merely to divert.
Pansy subjects - Verse! Opera! Domestic trivia! - are now commonplace.
The 300-word limit for posts is retained. The ego is enlarged

Thursday 22 July 2010

BB speaks through the techno-mist

Recently I confessed to an accent formed during my youth in the West Riding (ie, a part of Yorkshire, one of our grimmer northern counties). Why confessed? Because I for one cannot take anything seriously said in that whining drone suitable only for voicing complaint.

I have already met two bloggers who comment on Works Well and neither was prepared for the accent. Julia says it's time I took a more adult view and provided some kind of warning for other such unfortunates. As a result I have recorded one of my sonnets based on memories of a walk I took over fifty years ago with the woman who was to become Mrs BB.

you may click HERE and discover my angst.

 

25 comments:

marja-leena said...

The link sent me to a general YouTube page where I could not find your posting.

I'm strange but I have trouble with almost every accent I meet until my ear gets used to it, so don't feel bad.

The Crow said...

YouTube states the post is not available. Will try again later.

The Crow said...

BB, you can put up a slide show of favorite pictures of Mrs. BB, or just the one you posted of her when you gave us your sonnet. I don't have the techno-know-how to do it, but maybe Julia can help with it? Or Lucy?

I hope you won't give up on this. I'm looking forward to a tutorial from you on how to post to YouTube.

Rouchswalwe said...

What fun! I'm here. On tenterhooks. Wish I could help with the technology part, but I've had about a week and a half of snags and memory trouble on my device and am still in a thicket.

Hattie said...

Ah, c'mon. If Colm Toibin can show his face, so can you!

Sir Hugh said...

On my long distance walks through England and Scotland I have been able to hear the GRADUAL change from one regional accent to another - quite interesting to learn that there are graduations here.

Julia said...

Just did a bit of searching and I think http://www.gabcast.com/gc1/ might do the trick. I haven't tried it yet, but will be back with a review tonight!

Unknown said...

Audacity is the recording system which I use. Try it. It is fairly easy to operate, largely intuitive. You would be better at it than I.

Julia said...

Audacity is a good recording system and you can download it onto your computer. Plutarch, where do you upload your audio files when you finish recording? Blogger doesn't support audio files currently.

Roderick Robinson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roderick Robinson said...

M-L: I don't feel bad. I intend to confine myself to writing, not speaking.

The Crow/RW (sZ): As you can see, man proposes and Blogger disposes. YouTube is kicked into the weeds and if anyone wants to know the exact procedure, let me know.

Hattie: It is not fear that prevents me from posting a pic, just a sense of pointlessness.

Sir Hugh: Or in some cases the accent just wears away. It was news to me.

Julia/Plutarch: Thank you both for your suggestions. In the end the Windows Sound Recorder, a freebie WMA/MP3 converter and the Box.new deal have made it so simple even I've been able to do it.

Rouchswalwe said...

Aargh! I'm at the library where I'm not allowed to use speakers. Fiddlesticks! I'll have to wait until Monday. Another reason to get a computer of my very own.

The Crow said...

From one of your previous self-descriptions, I thought your voice might sound like an early morning hornets' nest, that high-pitched sound they make before the day gets hot and they flow out of the nest looking for whatever it is that hornets seek.

Your voice is fine!

Julia said...

A poem read by its writer reminds me of a topographic map made 3D - you see all of its dimensions.

And where is that accent? I've heard thicker on the BBC!

Roderick Robinson said...

The Crow: That's a cop-out. Fine for what?

Julia: As I said, I read and re-read the sonnet many times, mainly to overcome technical problems. What I failed to do is pay any attention to the performance. I have just listened to it again and my buttocks clench as I detect the unwanted pathos in the line starting "And I.." But the thing can stand as is.

Whence the accent? I haven't the foggiest. I must consult Plutarch who has been listening to my conversation since 1963.

The Crow said...

That was not a cop-out. Your voice is fine for whatever you wish to use it. Even hog-calling.

In fact, it is much nicer than I imagined it would be when you were yelling at me via email recently.

What do you want it to sound like, BB? A basso-profundo like the actor James Earl Jones? Or a bit higher on the register from that, like Sean Connery?

I enjoyed hearing you read your sonnet; got more from it because of it, in fact.

(Cop-out, my as...eye-ball - mutter, mutter, mutter!)

Roderick Robinson said...

The Crow: I've never understood why hogs need calling. But it's a profession I'm willing to adopt.

The Crow said...

Re: hog-calling - I can teach you, if you like.

Lucy said...

Well I really liked it, and I often don't care for hearing people reading their own work because they tend to modulate down and it comes out too flat and embarrassed and self-deprecating. And it conveyed a lot more affect in the poem than just reading it. Not unlike Alan Bennett, I reckon. Where's HHB, I bet she'd like it too.

I feel a right numpty now because I couldn't make head nor tail of Audacity (which I imagine Plutarch uses for Qarrtsiluni recordings), gave up and made a blank video file and got Dave B to strip the audio off it, having sent it by Yousendit because it was so bloody big.

There has to be a better way.

Roderick Robinson said...

Lucy: It depends on the format you require. But if .wma will do there could be nothing simpler than using Sound Recorder which comes as part of Windows. If you need to convert to .mp3 or one or two other more obscure formats download the freebie Switch Audio Converter. What confuses things about audio recordings (unless they're going to the Q site where I assume they can handle the simple file) is the need to store the file for access. If you need to know about that, email me. But in the end that too was unblievably simple

herhimnbryn said...

hhb is here! I think your voice is great BB. Like Lucy I could hear your accent. There seems to be just a little hint of Alan Bennett in there.

Avus said...

My father and all his side of the family were from "oop North" (he was born in the old county of Westmoreland - Kendal, but his father, my grandfather was "Sheffield Yorkshire"). So I find your accent cosy and comforting, like coming home to family.
As with HHnB, Alan Bennett comes to mind and that is a compliment!

Roderick Robinson said...

HHB/Avus: Cosy! Northern folk aren't cosy they are as hard and stupid as gravel. I have tried to make the point more trenchantly in my August 2 post.

Rouchswalwe said...

BB! I finally had a chance to listen to this recording. Your voice is much as I imagined ... clear. Like the water in a brook, I can hear a bit of gurgly warmth at the edges when you describe Mrs. BB that day. It was worth waiting to hear you read your sonnet. Vielen Dank, BB!

Roderick Robinson said...

RW (zS): Sorry to be so late in getting back to you. Gurgly warmth - probably the result of what I ingest. Anyway, thanks for the compliment.